Bequia Easter Regatta 2008 - Caribbean Compass

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APRIL 2008 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 50 ST. THOMAS YACHT SALES Compass Point Marina, 6300 Est. Frydenhoj, Suite 28, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. 00802 44’ 1982 Ta Chiao CT $89,900 Tel: (340) 779-1660 Fax: (340) 779-2779 yachts@islands.vi 33’ 1973 Pearson 10M Sloop, $33,500 Sail 37’ 2001 Bavaria Sloop, 3 strms, Yanmar diesel $ 79,500 40’ 1986 Hunter Legend roomy, aft cockpit $ 69,000 40’ 1987 O’Day Sloop, Westerbeke, 2 strms $ 60,000 43’ 1995 Hunter 430, stepped transom, 2 strms $119,000 Power 14’ 2006 Aquascan Jetboat, 160HP Yamaha $ 34,900 31’ 1999 Sea Ray Sundancer, new engines, 2005 $ 79,900 32’ 1996 Carver 325, twin crusaders great condition $ 99,000 38’ 1999 Sea Ray Sundancer, mercruisers, 18 kts, $167,000 Call, fax or visit our website for a complete list of boats for sale www.stthomasyachts.com CREW VACANCIES! email: crew@tradewindscruiseclub.com TradeWinds Cruise Club operate a fleet of catamarans across six destinations in the Caribbean. We are the fastest growing charter company, operating TERM CHARTERS, all inclusive, 7 days. We are looking for crew, mainly teams in the form of a Captain and a Chef/Hostess. We prefer couples that are married OR have been living together for at least a year. The nature of the job is such that the better the understanding and teamwork between Captain and Chef the more successful your charters will be. Requirements: Captain with a Skipper’s licence. Chef/Hostess with a basic understanding of cooking. Dive master/ instructor for either the Captain and/or Chef is a plus. We offer full training onsite in the Caribbean. This is a FUN job with great earning potential. If you are willing to work hard and have a positive disposition to life this could be your DREAM job. Anyone with an interest is welcome to apply. If you would like more information about this job or send your CV to us, please use this email address: crew@tradewindscruiseclub.com or by mail to: Bequia Marina, P.O.Box 194BQ, Port Elizabeth, Bequia, St Vincent & the Grenadines Tel. St Vincent +784 457 3407 Tel. St Maarten +599 5510550 Letter of the Month Dear Compass, Yacht racing in the Caribbean is thriving, but many Caribbean regattas include wide varieties of boats in one class. This sometimes leads not only to quarrels about handicap ratings, but occasionally to dangerous situations. About 30 years ago the word “overtaking” disappeared from the yacht racing rules in an effort to simplify and clarify the rules. As long as boats are of similar size and speed, the elimination of the old rule “overtaking boat keep clear” has caused few problems for those who know the rules. However, as explained by John Doerr in his excellent article on racing rules entitled “Proper Course” in the January 2008 issue of Yachting World magazine, when you have boats of different sizes with considerable differences in speed, sailing on the same legs of a course and rounding the same marks, things can get very complicated. Even those who know the rules can interpret them differently, causing confusion and, in some cases, accidents. I personally know of five serious accidents involving a much faster big boat overtaking a slower, smaller boat and causing serious damage. One smaller boat, a ketch, lost both masts. Another, a yawl, suddenly became a sloop. In the third case, the smaller boat’s mast tore the larger boat’s main, opening it up luff to leach. But the leach line held, almost capsizing and dismasting the smaller boat. In the final two cases, the smaller boats were sunk. If I personally know five serious accidents, how many have happened worldwide? I not only know of five disasters, but over the years I have witnessed at least a dozen near-disasters — all caused by larger, faster boats overtaking smaller, slower boats in tight situations. In all cases all boats were competently crewed by crews that knew the racing rules, but since the word “overtaking” has disappeared from the racing rules, as soon as an overlap exists the overtaking boat has rights that complicate the issue. In the case of the small boat opening up the sail of the larger boat with its mast, The overtaking boat must keep clear. If there is a protest or collision, the onus is on the overtaking boat to prove that she used her best efforts to keep clear’ the helmsman and tactician of the larger boat were an ACC helmsman and tactician. Not only that, but when they were disqualified, they later complained bitterly at the bar about the incompetence of the protest committee, despite that fact that some members of the protest committee were highly regarded international judges. In the light of the accidents and near accidents, many competitors who have sailed in regattas where there is a great difference in speed in the competing boats feel that a relevant rule should be inserted in the racing instructions. The inserted rule should be something to the following effect: The overtaking boat must keep clear. If there is a protest or collision, the onus is on the overtaking boat to prove that she used her best efforts to keep clear. Some race committee members with whom I have discussed this feel that it is not permissible to alter the racing rules, but I have checked with two senior international judges who say that this can be done. They say it is not changing the rules, it is merely adding to the existing rules. If this were done, it would do much to eliminate the collisions caused by larger, faster boats overtaking smaller, slower boats. Don Street Ireland
We were anchored in Wallilabou Bay, St. Vincent, with a stern line tied to a palm tree on the beach. One morning I laughed when my nine-year-old son said: “Dad, those fishermen are laying their net around us!” “Oh, don’t worry son,” I said, “I’m sure they know what they’re doing.” For the time being I paid no more attention, until ten minutes later, with a rap on the hull, I heard: “Hey mon, pass me de end of yo’ anchor chain.” Sure enough, the net which had been launched from the beach on one side of us, rowed out in an arc and landed on the other side of us, had now been hauled in fairly tightly and the only thing preventing the completion of this communal fishing venture was the fact that we were anchored squarely in the middle. The spokesman for the group assured me: “No problem, mon, jus’ pass me de end of yo’ chain and we go’ pass de net under yo’ keel.” Now there were two reasons that I wasn’t going to pass him the bitter end of my anchor chain. Firstly, there remained about 30 meters of chain in the chain locker, which I really didn’t fancy pulling out and passing to him, even if I thought that he could stand the weight of it, balanced on his small rowing boat, as he was. Secondly, with the beach only 20 meters astern of us, I really didn’t want to hand him the only thing that was holding us off, namely the chain and anchor! So I swore at him a lot. “Okay, mon, de other ting we go’ do is we go’ lift yo’ anchor over de net, so we can pull de net under yo’ keel.” “I forbid you to touch the anchor,” I said, swearing some more, as he proceeded to jump overboard, attach a rope to our anchor, pull it up and dump it unceremoniously beyond the net. Sure enough, the group on the beach hauled the net under us and successfully landed their catch! Meanwhile, we buoyed and cast off the stern line, lifted and re-laid the anchor and ‘You want me to do what?’ WHAT’S ON MY MIND as we came back in astern, I was in such a rage that I managed to tangle the buoyed stern line in the propeller! There is often a lesson to be learnt from situations such as these. I feel that in this case the lesson must be: Don’t swear at people, it doesn’t help! In front of all his friends the spokesman could not have backed down and removed his net. I should have realised this and worked with him, perhaps by laying out the small kedge anchor over his net, before lifting the main anchor. DON’T LEAVE PORT WITHOUT IT BELA ALMEIDA �� APRIL 2008 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 51
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Bequia Easter Regatta 2008 - Caribbean Compass

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